Kidambi Srikanth, PV Sindhu sail into World Championships quarters; Chirag-Satwik bow out

In-form Indian shuttlers Kidambi Srikanth and PV Sindhu sailed into the quarterfinals of the BWF World Championships in Huelva, Spain on Thursday.

12th seed Kidambi Srikanth outclassed unseeded Lu Guang Zu of China 21-10, 21-15 to enter the last eight. Former world No. 1 Srikanth dominated world No. 27 Lu Guang Zu to register his second straight win over the Chinese player.

Srikanth is now in line to win a maiden World Championships medal. The 29-year-old will take on All England Open semifinalist Mark Caljouw in the quarterfinals on Friday.

Srikanth said he was confident of winning against Lu Guang after getting the perfect start. He stressed he wants to maintain the momentum in his next match.

“I am happy to win the game. I feel like the lead I got in the first set, that made a huge difference. When I led 11-4, I felt very confident after that. I just tried to stay positive throughout the match and it really worked. I'm happy to be in the quarterfinals, yes, but frankly... I really want to go further. Much further ahead in the tournament. I’ll just try and take it one match at a time,” Srikanth told BWF media on Thursday.

PV Sindhu breaks two-match losing sequence against Pornpawee Chochuwong

PV Sindhu thumped Pornpawee Chochuwong of Thailand 21-14, 21-18, and now leads 5-3 in head-to-head career meetings. With this 48-minute victory, Sindhu broke the two-match losing sequence against the Thai player.

It was really a commendable performance by the defending women’s singles champion.

World No. 7 Sindhu will clash with top seed and world No. 1 Tai Tzu Ying of Chinese Taipei, who ousted Kirsty Gilmour of Scotland 21-10, 19-21, 21-11.

Chirag Shetty-Satwiksairaj Rankireddy loses in three games

Chirag Shetty and Satwiksairaj Rankireddy blew a 20-18 lead against Malaysians Teo Ee Yi and Ong Yew Sin, seeded ninth, to lose the first game at 22-20. Although eighth seeds Chirag and Satwik bounced back to win the next game, the Indians went down 20-22, 21-18, 15-21 in a marathon encounter.

The women’s doubles pair of Ashwini Ponnappa and N Sikki Reddy lost 13-21, 15-21 to the Thai duo of Jongkolphan Kititharakul and Rawinda Prajongjai.

Indian Results (Pre-quarterfinals):

Men’s singles

12-Kidambi Srikanth bt Lu Guang Zu (China) 21-10, 21-15 (40 minutes)

HS Prannoy vs 11-Rasmus Gemke (Denmark)

Lakshya Sen vs Kevin Cordon (Guatemala)

Women’s singles

6-PV Sindhu bt 9-Pornpawee Chochuwong (Thailand) 21-14, 21-18 (48 minutes)

Men’s doubles

8-Satwiksairaj Rankireddy-Chirag Shetty lost to 9-Ong Yew Sin-Teo Ee Yi (Malaysia) 20-22, 21-18, 15-21 (68 minutes)

Women’s doubles

Ashwini Ponnappa-N Sikki Reddy lost to 6-Jongkolphan Kititharakul-Rawinda Prajongjai (Thailand) 13-21, 15-21 (38 minutes)

Quarterfinal line-up (Friday)

Men's singles

12-Kidambi Srikanth vs Mark Caljouw (Netherlands)

Women's singles

6-PV Sindhu vs 1-Tai Tzu Ying (Chinese Taipei).